Future World
by Sanluris
Summary: Shiloh and Gale find themselves in a desolate and cold world, realizing that Dusknoir betrayed them. Grovyle is suddenly their only ally in the dark and hostile world, and time is running out to change the future, with Grovyle as the only key to the truth.
1. Memories

**Future**

"Gale?" Someone was shaking my shoulders, and I groaned and sat up painfully. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around and saw Shiloh coming into focus. "Good. You don't seem hurt." I stood gingerly, rubbing my arms, and stared around in confusion.

"How about you?" I said, teeth chattering. Shiloh lowered her shoulders and gave me a concerned look. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine," she replied, then gave me a saddened, terse look.

"Where are we?" I asked slowly, rubbing my eyes with a grimace as Shiloh helped me get to my feet.

"Some kind of jail," she replied unhappily.

"Jail?" I repeated in confusion. Shiloh turned and gestured.

"Look," Shiloh said, gesturing for me to come closer. I trudged over and could make out bars blocking a large opening in a rocky wall. Shiloh frowned and folded her arms. "We're in a cave, but someone built bars over the entrance." I could slip an arm through the bars, but even though Treecko had slight frames, the bars were still too close together to squeeze through. Staring around at the gloomy cave, I slumped my shoulders and looked at Shiloh in confusion.

"How'd we get here?" Shiloh faced me with a defeated expression.

"Dusknoir threw us in here," she explained in a subdued tone. "After he dragged us into the dimensional hole." I sat down heavily, remembering. "It's been a couple hours since then, I think."

"If Dusknoir took us into the Dimensional Hole…" I hesitated and wrapped my arms tightly around myself, "are we in the future?"

"We must be," Shiloh murmured uneasily. "Dusknoir said the future world was always dark...and..." She trailed off, then wrapped her arms around her body.

"Let's sit together," I said, and gestured to her. She trudged over and sat down, then pressed close to my right side. "It'll be a little warmer, at least."

"Whenever it's this cold," Shiloh said after a few minutes, "I kind of wish I could become a Fire-type." She pressed a little closer to me, and I felt her shivering.

"Why would Dusknoir bring us here?" I wondered dully, drawing my legs up to my chest and resting my head on my knees.

"I don't know," Shiloh answered, sounding troubled. "He came in earlier, before you woke up, and I asked him." She gave a long sigh. "He didn't answer...and he took my satchel away. I tried to stop him, but he was too strong."

"Are you alright?" I asked, feeling a quick surge of anger.

"He didn't attack," Shiloh answered back with a quiet growl. We huddled together in silence for a while longer.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, shivering.

"It's okay," Shiloh told me. "We'll think of something." Suddenly, sharp growls and scratching noises sounded just beyond the bars, and I felt a spike of fear. The growls got louder, and I jumped and scooted backwards. "Easy," Shiloh murmured. "We'll get through this." A scraping noise filled the air, and a moment later the bars started lifting and soon disappeared from sight. Shiloh and I jumped to our feet when six figures crowded into the cave and surrounded us, their eyes shining. I glared at them in the darkness.

"Finally awake?" One of them rasped. "Good."

"What do you want?" I asked defensively, and felt Shiloh tense next to me. The Pokémon's chuckles echoed around the cell, and I finally recognized their hissing voices; they were Sableye, the same Pokémon that had knocked Grovyle into the dimensional hole.

"Come with us," the Sableye in front of me hissed, and swiftly approached me, holding up something in both paws.

"Back off!" I lunged at the Sableye, but felt something tackle me from behind and shove me firmly against the ground. My head was lifted and something was tied around my head, and then I was yanked roughly to my feet and pushed forcefully.

"Walk!" One of the Sableye commanded, and I twisted around, but couldn't see a thing. It was even darker than before.

"Shiloh!" I called as the Sableye kept shoving me forward.

"I'm here!" She cried from behind me, and I tried to turn and go to her, but someone grabbed my arms and roughly shoved them behind my back, then tied them together. The Sableye kept pushing me forward and I tried to stumble along as best I could, but suddenly I ran into a hard surface.

"What are you doing?" I yelled when someone grabbed me and lifted me up, then turned me around and pressed me to the hard surface. Paws held me tightly while another set of paws started winding something around my body. I squirmed, but couldn't move an inch, and realized I'd been tied to something. Paws tugged at my face and pulled, and I flinched as a bright light shone down from the ceiling. Grunting, I attempted pull my arms free of the bindings. I discovered quickly that it was useless, though. I'd been bound with thick rope all the way up to my neck. I could turn my head left and right a little, but that was all.

"I'd calm down if I were you," a voice advised dryly, and I glanced quickly to the right.

"Grovyle?" I asked blankly, and he gave a low chuckle. The Pokémon was tied with rope to a thick pillar as big around as a tree trunk.

"That's me. So we meet again."

"Gale!" When I heard Shiloh's voice coming from my other side I forgot about Grovyle and turned my head towards her.

"Are you alright?" I asked quickly, ignoring a sharp intake of breath from Grovyle. She squirmed a bit, then smiled weakly at me.

"Fine," Shiloh replied. "Don't worry. How about you?"

"Alright," I responded.

"Gale?" I glanced back towards Grovyle and saw him staring at me with wide yellow eyes.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"You're...Gale?" Grovyle asked, and his expression was dumbstruck, an emotion that looked strange on a Pokémon as bad as him.

"I'm..._a _Gale," I told him, feeling puzzled.

"You probably know some other Gale," Shiloh interjected, and I nodded, seeing the sense in her statement.

"You're probably right," Grovyle agreed, then sighed quietly. He almost seemed a little disappointed. Dark chuckles distracted me and I glanced downward. The Sableye were leering up at me with glinting eyes. "Anyway...you ended up here too." Grovyle scoffed, and I saw that he was scowling down at the gathered Sableye. "It's nice to have some company aside from them."

"It makes sense for you to be here," Shiloh told him sharply, "but not us. We haven't done anything."

"You must have," Grovyle objected with a snort, "otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to capture you."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Shiloh cried furiously. "We really didn't do anything!"

"That doesn't matter to them, or to me," Grovyle said darkly. "They're going to get rid of us anyway."

"Get rid of us...?" Shiloh shook her head back and forth, struggling against the thick ropes. "Why?"

"Quiet. Listen. Don't waste your energy." Grovyle lowered his voice. "Wait for an opportunity."

"You mean," I whispered, "to escape? You think we can?"

"We have to." I looked back at Shiloh and saw the anger in her eyes fade a bit. She bit her lip and nodded.

"He's right," she murmured softly. About to turn back to Grovyle, I noticed movement ahead of me, and gulped when I saw Dusknoir slowly floating closer.

"Comfortable?" The ghost Pokémon asked with a light chuckle. "I suppose not."

"Dusknoir, what are you doing?" Shiloh asked urgently. Dusknoir gazed at Shiloh, then me, and finally at Grovyle. With a little shrug, he looked down at the Sableye.

"They have been tied up, Lord Dusknoir," one of them said in an amused tone.

"_Lord_ Dusknoir?" I repeated, widening my eyes.

"Those Sableye are Dusknoir's followers," Grovyle explained in a mutter.

"Ignore them," Dusknoir stated placidly, and I realized that the polite tone he normally used was gone, making it hard to believe he was the same Pokémon. He'd acted strangely before, when he'd met Grovyle in the crystal cave, which had first made me feel that something was off about him. "You may get ready." The Sableye shuffled closer and raised their arms, showing off unnervingly sharp-looking claws.

"Wait, Dusknoir," I spoke up urgently, and the ghost Pokémon turned his red eye on me. A shiver ran through my body. "You were just going to _arrest_ Grovyle."

"That's right," Shiloh added. "Why are you doing this?"

"I have no need to answer you," Dusknoir growled coldly.

"Gale," Grovyle muttered, and I glanced sideways at him. "The Sableye use their claws to attack. To hurt us, they'll need to hit the ropes."

"So we can get out," I whispered in realization.

"Right. It's our chance to attack," Grovyle added in an undertone. I hurriedly faced Shiloh.

"Grovyle has a plan," I said while anxiously keeping an eye on the steadily approaching Sableye. Dusknoir was watching intently. "When the Sableye attack," I whispered, "they'll cut the ropes, too...so when we're loose, we can attack."

"Ready?" Dusknoir questioned, and the Sableye nodded in unison and grinned widely.

"What if they don't hit the ropes?" Shiloh asked, her voice quaking.

"I…I don't know," I confessed ashamedly, tensing up in fear.

"Then we're done for," Grovyle muttered darkly. "Don't think about it. Just be ready."

"Now!" Dusknoir's voice boomed, and two Sableye lunged at me and began slashing their claws so rapidly that their arms were only purple blurs. Their first strikes sheared the ropes, but the following ones started to hit me, sending slashes of pain through my body. I yelled and strained against the ropes, but I couldn't move an inch.

"Endure it!" Grovyle cried out, his voice tight with pain. Slowly I opened my eyes, gritting my teeth against the pain. My heart was thudding painfully, and my breaths were becoming faster as panic and pain were starting to get to me, but all of a sudden I noticed that the ropes didn't feel so tight. "Get ready," Grovyle hissed.

"Shiloh," I gasped, painfully looking over at her. She gave a single nod; she had cuts across her body, but I realized her ropes were ripped more than halfway.

"GO!" Grovyle shouted fiercely, and I strained against the ropes with all my strength, then felt them rip even further. I pressed my paws to the pillar I'd been tied to and pushed off. The Sableye in front of me looked alarmed for a split second, and then I slammed into them, tackling them into the ground. One slashed at me, scoring me across the right side of my face, but I grabbed him around the throat and began using absorb. I felt the stinging pain from my cuts lessen a bit. "Come to me!" I heard Grovyle yell commandingly, so I let the Sableye go, then frantically looked around for Shiloh. She sent a jet of water from her mouth, which hit two advancing Sableye dead on, sending them careening clear across the darkened room; from there they slammed into a wall. The two Dark types crumpled into a heap and didn't move.

"Shiloh!" I called to her, and she glanced around, her eyes lit with hostility. Beckoning to her, I saw her eyes clear and she rushed towards me. I grabbed her arm and ran with her towards Grovyle. I watched him lift a shiny blue object above his head.

"What are you doing? Stop them!" Dusknoir bellowed. I stared up at Grovyle, and saw his eyes narrow angrily as he brought the blue object down. A bright flash lit the area.

"Behind the pillars!" Grovyle's voice hissed close to me, and I heard his steps moving away, but I couldn't tell where he was going.

"Where are you?" I called urgently, and yelped when I was grabbed by my neck and dragged. I heard Shiloh gasp in alarm before I was given a sharp shove that pushed me up against something. The light was starting to fade, and I glanced around sharply, seeing that I was leaning against a pillar. Shiloh was behind the one she'd been tied to, and Grovyle was pressed up against the pillar he'd been tied to as well. I pressed my body against the pillar and made sure nothing of me was sticking out. I tucked my tail between my legs just in case and started taking shallow, quiet breaths.

"Find them!" Dusknoir's enraged voice sounded and I pressed both hands to my head. "They can't have gotten far! GO!" The Sableye made sounds of alarm, then scuttled off, their footsteps frantic. Dusknoir growled and then there was silence. After a moment, I dared to move and glance across at Grovyle. He caught my eye, peeked around the pillar, and nodded at me. I sighed, then cautiously stepped out into the open.

"Is he gone?" Shiloh asked in trepidation.

"For now," Grovyle answered her. "We need to go. I know the way out."

"You want us to go with you?" I asked in surprise, and Grovyle gave me an agitated look.

"Unless you want to get caught again." I caught Shiloh's eye and she nodded urgently.

"No way," I said, and Grovyle turned quickly.

"Come on then." He sped nimbly off, leading the way down corridors and around corners. There were other caves along the way, and Grovyle stopped at one without explanation and darted inside. I started to follow him, but he turned and shook his head firmly. "Keep watch. Tell me if anyone's coming." Stepping back into the dark corridor, I noticed Shiloh was standing with her arms crossed.

"Hey," I said quietly, moving closer, and she looked up with a tight smile.

"What's going on, Gale?" She muttered. "Dusknoir...did he really want to kill us?"

"It looked that way," I told her, shaking my head. "I guess…he was lying, then."

"That's how Dusknoir is," Grovyle said, appearing between us suddenly. I jumped as he tossed something to me.

"My satchel!" I exclaimed, pulling the strap over my head. Quickly I sifted through the items in the satchel, looking for the photo, but it wasn't there. Disappointed, I looked up and saw Grovyle tossing a satchel to Shiloh as well. Looking a little dazed, she put it on. "Didn't you steal this?" I wondered. "Why are you giving it back to me?"

"Keep moving," Grovyle ordered, and I quickly obeyed, but pressed him for an answer along the way.

"Dusknoir said you stole it," I told him, wondering how he'd react.

"He lied, like you said," Grovyle said bluntly, pausing momentarily to check around a corner. "Move. We're outside." The three of us hurried down a corridor and out of the gloomy tunnels. The air was still cold, but because of the running we'd done I was almost glad for it. Grovyle kept moving along, and I began struggling to keep up after a minute, and could tell Shiloh was too. I was about to ask Grovyle if we could rest when he stopped and turned abruptly. "This place is hidden." He was leading the way to a little alcove underneath a looming mountain range. "We'll rest here, but not for long." Panting heavily, I trudged over to a sheer rock wall and collapsed into a sitting position. Shiloh sat beside me and leaned against my shoulder, breathing heavily.

"Did you see anything other items with the satchels, Grovyle?" I asked breathlessly, and Grovyle shook his head once, giving me a curious look.

"No."

"Nothing like a picture?" I pressed almost desperately.

"Nothing like that," Grovyle said with certainty, crossing his arms and giving me an odd look.

"Why...why did Dusknoir...try to..." Shiloh trailed off, her expression pained. "We didn't do anything."

"You'd have to ask him, but you can't go back now." Grovyle shrugged. "He'd just try to kill you again." Shiloh grimaced and bit her lip, then wrapped both arms around herself and suppressed a shiver.

"Shouldn't we wait until it gets brighter?" Grovyle shook his head.

"The sun won't come up," he sighed impatiently, crossing his arms. "The planet is paralyzed."

"Dusknoir said that, but...I hoped it wasn't true." Shiloh lowered her head. "When did it happen?"

"I went to the past just before the planet's paralysis started," Grovyle replied, then turned around and tipped his head back, a distant look in his eye. "I thought I'd be able to fix the Planet's Paralysis, but I wasn't able to. Now dawn will never come. The wind won't ever blow, and the seasons will never change."

"That's exactly how Dusknoir described it," Shiloh murmured, looking downcast.

"What do you mean by fixing it?" I asked.

"Fixing the flow of time," Grovyle clarified. "That was my mission."

"Now that's a lie," Shiloh told him angrily. "You were stealing the Time Gears! That made time stop!" Grovyle sighed heavily and turned around, his arms still crossed.

"I'd like to explain, but we don't have time. Dusknoir and the Sableye will be on our trail soon."

"You want us to come with you," I said cautiously, "even though it's our fault you were captured?" Grovyle's yellow eyes met mine and he frowned.

"You didn't know what Dusknoir was really like," he said. "You'll be caught if you wander around here alone, but I know the way."

"We're not traveling with you," Shiloh growled. "You attacked us twice and hurt Azelf and his friends!" Grovyle's expression clouded, and he stared up at the darkened sky.

"That's part of the explanation I can't give right now." I turned sharply and stared off into the darkness.

"Stop, guys," I said quickly. "I heard something." Footsteps approached me from behind and I glanced up to see Grovyle standing next to me with a serious expression.

"I hear it too...it's Dusknoir." He glanced sharply down at me. "Time to go, whether you like me or not."

"Let's just escape for now, Shiloh," I said urgently, turning and running towards her.

"Can you stand?" I held my paws out and pulled her up when she gripped them.

"I'm fine," she said with a nod. Grovyle brushed past us and she gave him a wary look, but began to hurry after him. "But one thing is for sure—I'm going to figure all of this out, Grovyle."

"Do what you like." Grovyle threw a faint smirk over his shoulder, then faced forward again. "I'm going back to the past, and I imagine you want to get home, too."

"You bet we do," Shiloh retorted fervently. "I hate this place."

"Then it's best if you trust me for the moment," Grovyle declared, and Shiloh gave a scoff. "But if you don't, it doesn't bother me. I still have something important to do."

"Stealing the Time Gears is hardly important," Shiloh grumbled, glaring at Grovyle's back as we ran onward. The scenery became an uninteresting blur of shadowy gray and I eventually got tired of staring at it, so I watched Grovyle as we ran.

_You're...Gale? _What he'd said earlier suddenly came back to me, and I thought hard, wondering what other Gale he had known. A flickering light caught my attention and I looked up and realized we were on a high cliff. I stopped dead, shaking a little, then tried to focus on the sparkling lights.

"What are you doing?" Grovyle's voice called back to me and I jolted a bit. "We can't stop."

"I was just looking at that," I murmured, pointing at the lights. Grovyle stared off into the distance, then shook his head.

"Those lights are from the stockade," he explained in a subdued tone. "That's where we were."

"Those are the only lights around here," Shiloh stated quietly, "but we could have…died there."

"That's why we need to keep going," Grovyle told her firmly. "Come on. ."

"Really?" I asked, looking eagerly at Grovyle.

"You'll understand," Grovyle answered. "It's better if you see for yourself. Come on."

"This had better not be a trick." Shiloh was crossing her arms. "You attacked us before. You might again." Grovyle turned and gave Shiloh a stern glare.

"You need to trust me. There's no time for this."

"It's alright, Shiloh," I told her quietly once Grovyle had turned and started sprinting ahead. "I think we can believe him."

"I don't know." She glared at Grovyle's retreating form for a moment. I nudged her gently and she looked doubtfully at me. "He's not a good Pokémon," she muttered.

"If he wanted to hurt us, then he could have already," I said. "We know that more than anyone." Shiloh frowned at me.

"So...why hasn't he?"

"I'm not sure," I replied with a thoughtful frown, hoping I was right in trusting Grovyle.

"Maybe we're missing something," Shiloh sighed in confusion.

"At any rate," I mumbled, "he's the only one who can help us."

"I guess so," Shiloh muttered, then looked intently at me. "I trust you more than Grovyle, but if you trust him, then…I will too. For now."

"That's fair." I gave her a relieved smile, and she smiled back.

"Come on, you two! Hurry!" Grovyle's voice called from up ahead. Shiloh took a deep breath, then started off at a run, and I kept pace beside her. It was still painful to go at such a fast pace, but we got into a kind of rhythm. Grovyle let us stop once and share an Oran berry; he even took part of it when Shiloh apprehensively offered him a piece.

"See that?" Shiloh panted a while later when Grovyle stopped us to take another short break. "There's a forest way up ahead."

"That's where we're going," Grovyle announced, then sighed and added, "I have a friend there who helped me get the past, and I'm going to ask for her help again."

"She can do that?" Shiloh questioned curiously, looking at Grovyle with interest instead of suspicion.

"Yes. She can travel through time," Grovyle explained as he navigated the way forward.

"How?" Shiloh asked, and Grovyle lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

"Some Pokémon have unusual abilities, and that's hers."

"So, she helped you get to our time?" I asked, feeling better as the dark fear I'd felt at the stockade began to fade.

"Yes, but she needed help." Grovyle sat and gazed around. "If she has to time travel somewhere far, like to your time, she uses a gateway called the Passage of Time."

"Is it easy to find?" Shiloh wondered, sounding a little awed.

"No, but I've been there before." Grovyle smirked faintly. "I know shortcuts, too."

"Good," I said, feeling a little spur of confidence.

"Yeah." Shiloh took a deep breath, then let it out in a huge sigh.

"It's just a little further," Grovyle said, gesturing urgently. "Come on, you two."


	2. Fate

"Let's stop for a couple minutes," Grovyle announced. The three of us had been walking for ages, it seemed, and Shiloh and I had just barely been keeping up with Grovyle. We'd only stopped a few times, and I was exhausted. Panting heavily, I trudged over to a pale gray pine tree. Reaching out, I flattened my palm against the trunk, then jerked my paw away quickly.

"It's cold," I said, rubbing my paws together to warm them up. "What's wrong with it?"

"Everything is that way." I turned and saw Grovyle standing with a slight frown. "Time has stopped. It's not growing; it's as if it's dead."

"If the wind doesn't blow," Shiloh mumbled, rubbing her arms, "it should be hot...right?"

"It's because the sun doesn't come up anymore," Grovyle sighed. "Remember?"

"Grovyle, I really want to know something." Shiloh approached Grovyle and gazed firmly at him.

"Make it quick," Grovyle told her, and she took a breath.

"Why is Dusknoir after you?" Shiloh asked questioningly, her arms folded close to her body; I noticed she was shivering.

"Because I want to change this future," he answered. "Dusknoir wants the world to stay this way, and so does Primal Dialga."

"But why?" Shiloh asked in disbelief. "Everything's terrible this way."

"Dialga?" I echoed with interest. "I've heard of him." Shiloh and Grovyle looked sharply at me.

"You have?" Grovyle demanded, and I shook my head.

"The name just sounds familiar," I explained quietly. "I've never met him or anything."

"Hardly anyone has," Grovyle said. "Only Dusknoir and his Sableye."

"So, Dusknoir wants to catch you so the future won't change?" I asked, trying to think hard.

"That's right," Grovyle responded, and Shiloh gave a snort of disbelief.

"How could he?" She asked, sounding dumbstruck.

"Well, he..." Grovyle trailed off, suddenly looking troubled. "The world wasn't always frozen like this. But Dialga wants him to make sure I don't restore time." He glanced at me briefly, then looked away and crossed his arms. "Dialga isn't...seeing reason. When time went out of control, he lost control as well."

"Dusknoir told everyone that putting the Time Gears back would fix everything," Shiloh said, her eyes wide with worry. "Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf took care of that...but it didn't help."

"If I told you Dusknoir had been lying, you wouldn't have believed me." A faint smile crossed Grovyle's face. "You want to find the truth on your own, remember." Shiloh didn't answer, and Grovyle strode past her, deeper into the forest. "Let's keep moving." Without a word, Shiloh followed after him, and I kept close to her. We hadn't encountered any Pokémon so far, but even if we had to fight I almost felt like I'd be glad to see some other Pokémon.

"Why aren't there any Pokémon here?" I questioned curiously, unable to keep the thought to myself.

"They're frozen in time," Grovyle answered shortly. "Maybe some managed to avoid being caught when time stopped, but I doubt it. Dusknoir and the Sableye weren't here when it happened, and neither was I."

"What about the friend you talked about?" Shiloh queried.

"She knew that the planet would become paralyzed," Grovyle explained, then glanced back over his shoulder. "In fact, she's the one who warned me about it, and she told me that she would escape through time when it happened."

"What's her name?" I ventured cautiously, and Grovyle turned his head back.

"Celebi." I repeated the name under my breath and felt a shiver of recognition. "She has another name, of course...but she'll tell you when we meet her. It won't be long now."

"So, she went through time." Shiloh's voice rose questioningly. "Doesn't that mean she isn't here?"

"She'll be there," Grovyle said. "Trust me on that." Shiloh caught my eye and gave me a puzzled look. I held up my arms, not sure what Grovyle meant either. Eventually, Grovyle stopped in a clearing of dull gray trees and tipped his head back. "Celebi," he called out, but didn't raise his voice too much, and I knew he was wary of Dusknoir finding us. "It's me." The three of us waited, but nothing happened.

"She's not coming," Shiloh murmured anxiously. "Do you think she's okay? Dusknoir could have caught her, too."

"Caught me!? Really! How rude!" A sharply indignant voice echoed through the clearing. Shiloh jumped, then glanced around with wide eyes that finally landed on me.

"Turn around," she whispered.

"What?" I asked, then glanced behind me and froze, staring. A small pink Pokémon was hovering just a couple inches from my face. Two thin antennae extended from her forehead. "Celebi?" I asked when I'd gotten over my shock.

"That's me," the pink Pokémon said cheerfully. "You can call me Linné." Her green eyes stretched wide so suddenly that I jumped. "...Who are you?"

"Gale," I responded nervously.

"Gale?" She breathed disbelievingly, looking awestruck.

"Not that Gale," Grovyle said, striding up. "These two were captured by Dusknoir, but we got away, as you can see." Linné murmured sympathetically.

"You're hurt," she observed. Thanks to the Sableye, all three of us had almost been shredded to bits. We'd been focused on running, though, and hadn't taken enough time so far to stop and completely heal our injuries. Linné floated towards Grovyle and touched both his arms, one after the other, and I stared in amazement when the red slash marks became paler red and finally vanished. Linné did the same for Shiloh, and soon there was no trace of the recent injuries on her. The pink Celebi touched my face, then arms, and I felt the stinging pain fade.

"Thank you," Shiloh breathed. "Grovyle said you had unusual powers." Linné gave a light, clear laugh.

"He did?" Grovyle sighed as Linné floated over to him, her pale green wings fluttering slightly. "I'm glad you're safe." Suddenly she frowned, though, and looked more sadly at Grovyle. "I assume that the mission didn't go as planned."

"Unfortunately…yes," Grovyle murmured, lowering his head.

"That was...because of us," Shiloh offered, sounding ashamed. I glanced at her in surprise. "Dusknoir told us that Grovyle was stealing the Time Gears so he could destroy the world. We tried to stop him." Linné gasped sharply.

"I hope you know that's not true," she told Shiloh, who looked away and nodded after a moment.

"I wasn't sure, but...Dusknoir wanted to get rid of us, too...even though he's been nice to us before." She shook her head slowly. "He even saved our lives."

"That was just a show," Grovyle muttered. "Linné, we need to get back to the past. Can you help me one more time?"

"Of course, dear Grovyle!" Linné exclaimed kindly. "I miss the way the world used to be." She smiled encouragingly. "You'll be able to do it this time."

"Now that we know the truth, we'll help you," Shiloh told Grovyle hopefully. "I'm sorry we didn't trust you. I still...can't believe Dusknoir's the bad one, but...it's starting to make sense."

"Don't let it upset you," Linné told Shiloh in a reassuring tone. "You know now."

"She's right," I put in, then looked up at the Celebi. "Can you really get us back?"

"Now you don't trust me either?" Linné shook her head sadly, but there was a faint smile on her face and a kind look in her eyes; apparently she wasn't really upset.

"No, just...I want to get back as soon as we can," I explained, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Dusknoir's still looking for us," Grovyle said, and Linné nodded, her little smile vanishing.

"Leave it to me. The Passage of Time isn't far." She glanced at me for a moment, then Shiloh. "Do you have any other injuries?"

"No, I feel a lot better," Shiloh replied brightly. "You're an amazing Pokémon."

"Thank you," Linné said, her warm smile back. Her tone was welcoming and polite, but unlike Dusknoir, I knew she was being genuine. "Stay close to me."

"We will," Shiloh said gratefully.

"We're counting on you," Grovyle put in, and Linné gave him a keen glance.

"Don't you worry, dear Grovyle." Linné twirled around in the air and nodded brightly, then spun and flew off through the forest. Grovyle set off at a fast clip after Linné; Shiloh and I had to hurry again to catch up. I noticed that the landscape was the same as we traveled along; the world lacked color and light. The trees were all a dull, ashen gray and the sky was dark, as if it was about to storm. I'd noticed the lack of color and the coldness before, but it was really sinking in now. Soon enough I stopped paying attention as my feet kept pounding against the same dismal landscape. I barely noticed when the forest scenery changed to a bare and rocky landscape; it was too upsetting to think that the future planet was paralyzed and that Dusknoir wanted to keep it that way, and the realization that he'd tried to kill Grovyle, Shiloh and me just added to the heaviness in my chest. And something else was bothering me; I had a little tickle in my mind, the sensation that meant I'd forgotten something important.

"Hey, Gale...how are you…holding up?" Shiloh's tired voice brought me back to reality.

"I'm...fine." I noticed she was panting heavily as she ran, and had barely been able to get her question out between breaths. I managed to ask, "What about you? I never...check on you...but you always...worry about everyone." Shiloh gave a breathless laugh.

"Oh, come on...you do." She fixed me with a sincere look. "You're worried right now but don't want to say anything." I felt a jolt of surprise.

"How...could you tell?"

"You always do it...you keep things to yourself," Shiloh panted, then trailed off as she slowed to a jog and then a limping walk. Glancing ahead I saw that Grovyle and Linné were standing still as they gazed quietly at something. Shiloh walked closer to me and I saw her take a deep breath, then approach the two Pokémon. Linné was hovering just in front of Grovyle, and something was casting blue waves of light over their bodies.

Dazedly, I moved forward, dragging my feet a little, and had to shut my eyes for a moment against the only light I'd seen for a while. But I couldn't keep them shut, and opened them again to see a cascade of cyan-colored light flowing out of a dull gray rock face like a waterfall. Gazing into the bright depths, my eyes began to smart, but I didn't want to look away.

"This is the Passage of Time," Grovyle said. I jolted when he shook my shoulders. Linné raised her arms high, and now I did look away and up at Grovyle when the cyan glow intensified. "Time to go back." Grovyle took a step forward, and Shiloh and I automatically hurried after him, but I halted when a hostile voice sounded from up ahead.

"That's far enough." Grovyle froze, then backed up as Dusknoir's form floated out of the shadows of the overhanging cliffs surrounding the Passage of Time. He held out his arms, and I took a step back, then shot a panicked glance towards Shiloh. Her brown eyes were wide with dismay, and she was pressing close to my side. Linné shot back towards us, floating above our heads. Slowly, the Sableye who'd attacked us before materialized out of the darkness as well, but there were only three of them. Then I heard scratching noises and quiet, but menacing, laughter from behind me. I knew then where the other Sableye were, though even if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to turn. Hot fear had stunned me, and I felt like I couldn't move.

"D-D-Dusknoir!" Linné exhaled in shock, her voice trembling. The Ghost Pokémon's single red eye narrowed mirthfully.

"We meet again. It's been too long."

"Dusknoir, you can't stop me," Grovyle growled harshly. "I've escaped you before. I will again." I shuddered when Dusknoir gave a low, dark chuckle.

"On the contrary, Grovyle...this time is different." Grovyle scoffed, raising his arms slightly and widening his stance.

"I don't think so," he told Dusknoir scornfully. "You aren't a match for us."

"I don't know why you wanted to hurt us, Dusknoir," Shiloh challenged with only a slight quake to her tone, "but I won't let you capture us again." I gulped, wanting to say something, but my throat was tight.

"I won't let us be caught!" Linné declared strongly, now sounding undaunted.

"Normally, you'd be right..." Dusknoir said complacently, "but I was better prepared this time."

"Who would that be?" Grovyle drawled. "More of your henchmen?" Dusknoir gave another unsettlingly calm chuckle and turned on the spot.

"They're here," he said in a menacing drawl, and I thought he was talking to the Sableye, but they already knew we were here. Suddenly the air charged with power, and my body tingled as if I'd been shocked. Suddenly the frozen world's silence was shattered with an ear-splitting roar that shook the ground more strongly than even a powerful earthquake could. I lost my footing and crumpled to the ground onto all fours as the earth beneath me heaved. Sounds of rock shattering rent the air next, and I threw myself to the ground, covering my head, some deep instinct making me move.

Another roar made me clap both paws to my head. The ground quaked and I knew if I'd been standing, I would have been thrown to the ground. I stood when the shaking stopped and glanced up, first in trepidation and then in horror. A dark, looming form was standing on the cliffs directly over the Passage of Time, and as I watched, glowing, scarlet red eyes leered down at me. The glowing eyes illuminated the figure and I made out a four-legged Pokémon with a long, powerful-looking tail, four heavyset limbs, and a long, thick neck with an unsettlingly large head and a strong set of fanged jaws. A light blue spiked fan jutted out from the base of the Pokémon's tail, and spikes surrounded a thick, elongated crest atop its head. A sort of armor-like plate covered its chest, and a deep, red gem was set in the middle of the plate.

"G-G-G-Grovyle, wh-wha...what…w-who...wh-what i-is th-that?!" Shiloh asked in a voice shaking so much with fright that I could barely understand her.

"That's...Primal...Dialga," Grovyle replied in a raspy whisper. I stared at him and saw that his eyes were tightly closed. "We...we're done for."

"M-my dear...G-Grovyle..." Linné stammered, her voice quaking in dismay.

"It's over," Grovyle groaned through clenched teeth. "If it were just Dusknoir and the Sableye, we'd have a chance. But Dialga...he controls time. We can't escape with him here." His eyes flashed yellow as they opened and gazed down at me. He had a pained, distressed look in his eyes that stuck anything I wanted to say in my throat.

"Dusknoir, please!" Shiloh had stepped forward and was shouting at Dusknoir in a wrenching voice both pleading and furious. "You can't do this! You can't want the world to be this way!"

"That's enough," Dusknoir growled threateningly.

"NO!" Shiloh's voice came out in a tearful scream. "Why do you want us gone?! You used to be kind to everyone! Why did you do this?"

"Shiloh, it's alright...come here." Linné floated down close to her, putting a small hand on her head, while Grovyle raised his head and marched towards Dusknoir a couple steps. Glaring at the ghost-type resolutely, he took a breath.

"If you stop us, Dusknoir, then you haven't won. I wasn't doing all of this alone."

"No?" Dusknoir asked with an amused, dark chuckle.

"I wasn't alone when I set out to stop the planet's paralysis. I had a partner." Dusknoir crossed his arms and shook his head slowly, then scrunched his eye like he was about to laugh.

"Who was this partner, Grovyle?" Dusknoir challenged, not sounding worried or even intimidated. Grovyle met Dusknoir's gaze levelly and his eyes glared confidently through the darkness. "Would you mind telling us more? A name, for instance?"

"Why ask?" Grovyle demanded furiously, but his eyes suddenly softened, though there was still determination in them. "He was my most important friend...one I'd known for a long time." Shiloh and Linné were listening with uneasy expressions; the Celebi in particular seemed unhappy. Grovyle paused, then turned his gaze down to me. "Gale. You have the same name, but you're not the same one. But that was my partner's name." We stared at each other for a second longer, and then Grovyle lifted his head and faced Dusknoir again. "You know, Linné." The Celebi nodded tightly, arms wrapped around her body.

"I couldn't see everything," Linné murmured tightly, her eyes saddened, "but something attacked you while you were time-traveling."

"And we were separated afterward," Grovyle clarified. "Gale couldn't understand us, but he knew about the Time Gears and what had to be done." Grovyle bared his teeth at Dusknoir. "It's too late for me, but Gale's out there, safe from you." His mouth turned up in a grimly contented smirk. "He'll put things right." There was a tense pause, during which Dusknoir didn't say anything. Grovyle turned slowly towards Shiloh and me. "Shiloh, Gale...you kept up well. I'm sorry...things ended this way."

"It's not your fault," Shiloh told him quickly, shaking her head. "But we can still get out of this!" A sharp laugh from Dusknoir made her jump. The laugh was so strange, so wild and triumphant that I felt a shiver race through my whole body. My heartbeat was quickening. Something about what Grovyle had said was making me remember something...the important thing I'd wanted to remember all this time...

"What's so funny?" Grovyle shouted. "What's the matter with you?"

"Your friend's name is Gale, correct?" Dusknoir chortled, throwing his hands up into the still air. I backed away when he pointed at me with a sinister glint in his bright red eye. "And this Treecko just happens to be named Gale as well! Isn't that odd?"

"What are you saying?" Grovyle demanded. "Talk sense!"

"You never thought for one instant that it was too much of a coincidence?" Dusknoir drawled with a sneer in his voice. "But here's something that may interest you." He held something up in his hand, a tiny white object, and it was too dark to really make out any details. I squinted at it, and a moment later I realized what it was: a picture.

"That's Gale and me," Grovyle announced harshly. "And his family. Where did you get that?" I clenched Grovyle's wrist urgently.

"That's mine!" I told him.

"What?!" Grovyle turned and grabbed my shoulders so hard that I winced and made an involuntary whine of pain. "Yours?"

"I found it on the beach near the Guild and I kept it because..." I hesitated and heard a laugh from Dusknoir.

"Because why, Gale?" He asked thoughtfully. "Because your hobby is collecting washed-up junk? Or because this picture is of a human family?" Grovyle was staring at me with a dismayed and confused expression. "You used to be a human...did you not?" Dusknoir sounded ominously pleased with himself. "Not just a human, mind...this very human!"

"But...wha...how do you know?" I asked faintly, shaking my head in shock. "No. It's someone else."

"There's no mistake," Dusknoir insisted while the Sableye began crowding in on us. "Gale, when you and Grovyle were looking for Celebi, I found you. Later, you showed me the picture, and even though it was of your child self, I saw the resemblance immediately. I also knew the Treecko was Grovyle."

"So that kid was you!" Shiloh gasped. "We were right!"

"You're...Gale?" Grovyle asked, looking stunned. "You're really Gale? Then all this time…it was you."

"I attacked you," Dusknoir growled threateningly, "but you managed to get away then." I shook my head.

"You've got it wrong," I insisted, despite the fact that my legs were trembling. "I don't remember my family, or anything else."

"Ah, that...that proved to be fortuitous for me." Dusknoir chuckled lowly. "Something happened to you, Gale, when you were going through the Passage of Time, and you lost your memory. When you met me, even though you were uneasy around me, I could tell you didn't remember me. It was simple to make you and Shiloh believe me."

"You can't be serious," Shiloh said disbelievingly, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"Oh, but I am," Dusknoir told her smugly. "I could have let the Luxio Tribe attack you, but it made more sense to save you and make it clear I was on your side."

"But you weren't!" Shiloh yelled. "You really did lie!" I shook my head, abruptly snapping out of my shock, and rushed forward a few steps. Anger overrode the fear I felt because of Dusknoir.

"You tried to kill us!" I yelled, feeling like something had snapped inside me. "And you hurt other people, too!" I felt mildly surprised as the words escaped my mouth; a dim memory came back to me. Dusknoir had attacked other people because he had been trying to kill me.

"It was what had to be done." In a quick motion, Dusknoir held the picture up and tore it right down the middle, then released it and let the pieces flutter to the ground a few feet away. I weakly took a couple steps forward, reaching out towards the torn picture on the ground. I held the two pieces together and stared at the child and Treecko in the picture. Grovyle and me. My eyes started to burn. I suddenly felt like a moron for failing to realize the truth. Dusknoir had strung me along and I'd just let him. I'd had visions of Grovyle and I playing together and having Grovyle taken away from me when he'd been a Treecko, but I hadn't been able to figure everything out in time.

"These are my parents and me." I rose to my feet and looked back at Grovyle, who was looking at me with a look of disbelief. "And you." His paws were clenching and unclenching, and he was just staring hard at me. Shiloh was standing with her mouth half open and Linné was hovering in the air, her antennae drooping slightly, while her eyes met mine dejectedly.

"I wondered," she said in a croaky whisper.

"So you understand now." I turned slowly and met Dusknoir's scarlet eye, feeling a sense of bewilderment and desperation. "You've failed."


End file.
